How supporting local businesses helps Austin
by Elena Ramirez, KLRU-TV
Originally published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in 2002
Austinites know that they have choices when it comes to where they spend their money. More so than most other cities, Austin offers a variety of locally-owned alternatives to just about any national chain. We can buy books at Bookpeople instead of Borders, coffee at Spider House instead of Starbucks, and get a quick meal at Taco Xpress instead of Taco Bell. But what are the real benefits of buying locally?
The most obvious benefits are cultural.
"Culturally, it's fairly well known that what sets Austin apart from everywhere else is the character of the city, and that character is formed essentially by the locally owned businesses," says Steve Bercu of the Austin Independent Business Alliance. "I don't want to see Austin turn into a place that is totally the same as everywhere else. If it does, why do I want to live here?"
Buying locally also improves the economy of Austin as a whole. A study conducted by Civic Economics showed that much more of the money spent at locally owned businesses stays in Austin.
"We said, 'What happens to $100 that's dropped at Bookpeople?', and we found that about $45 of that is still here tomorrow," says Dan Houston of Civic Economics. "At a chain store, that's just like Bookpeople only headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, only $13 of that is here tomorrow. The rest of that disappeared with the midnight bank transaction, and it's never coming back."
The benefits of buying locally are hard to ignore.
"Each time you go in and spend a dollar somewhere, you're voting to help that business survive, whatever that business might be," Bercu says, "And the question is, where do you place your votes? Do you want to place them with people who are here in your community, or do you want to vote for someone else?"
III. ALLIANCES AND COOPERATIVES
AUSTIN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ALLIANCE TAKES OFF
Steve Bercu, owner of Book People, a large independent bookstore in Austin, Texas, has been increasingly concerned about the decline of the city's homegrown businesses. Like the rest of the country, Austin has seen as steady influx of national chains. Meanwhile, the local businesses so central to the city's sense of place and character are disappearing.
About a year-and-a-half ago, Bercu learned about the Boulder Independent Business Alliance (BIBA) in Boulder, Colorado and decided to replicate the approach in Austin. He ordered BIBA's how-to information packet and started cold-calling local businesses advertising in the Austin Chronicle, an alternative weekly.
"Almost everyone thought it was a great idea," says Bercu. The Austin Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) was formed and now includes more than 50 locally owned businesses.
"We have a fair number of well-known, larger local businesses involved," notes Bercu, including Waterloo Records & Video, one of the best music stores in the country, KLRU-TV, the local public television station, and the outfitter Whole Earth Provision. AIBA also includes coffee shops, an appliance dealer, an optician, a motel, and a print shop.
Most of AIBA's focus is on public education and marketing. The group's window decals identify a business as locally owned and a member of AIBA. Print advertisements were initially aimed at recruiting new member businesses and featured such things as a "Declaration of Independents." "That was our call to arms," says Bercu. Future ads will be geared towards consumers and focus on the importance of independent businesses to the community and local economy.
The ad campaign has cost AIBA almost nothing. The Austin Chronicle donated free ad space and a local ad firm provided design assistance.
AIBA hopes to double its membership in the next few months. The group has asked each member to recruit one new business. When membership tops 100, AIBA plans to issue a directory of independent businesses. "The idea is to ensure that those who care know where to find alternatives to national chains," says Bercu.
Actively engaging in local policy issues might be a possibility down the road, but for now, AIBA plans to concentrate on organizing and delivering tangible benefits to its members. Recently the association hired a staff person to provide administrative assistance one day a week, and hopes to soon be able to hire a full-time executive director.
"It's not simple thing to start," says Bercu. "Reaching critical mass is difficult. But once you get there---we're getting there---it starts to take on a life of its own."
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